In a 4-1 vote last week, the Wright County Board of Commissioners decided to remain a member of the Tri-County Forensics Lab Joint Powers partnership - at least until the current agreement expires in 2018.
Last October, citing inequities in the funding formula, the board voted 3-2 to exercise its option to give the other partners, Anoka and Sherburne counties, 180 days notice to withdraw from the agreement.
That was a surprise vote in October, since it was assumed from previous discussions the board was 3-2 in favor of remaining in the partnership.
Commissioners Pat Sawatzke and Charlie Borrell had been in favor of pulling out unless the funding formula was changed. Commissioners Christine Husom and Mike Potter felt the lab was a valuable asset to the county and wanted to remain a partner.
The swing voter, Commissioner Mark Daleiden, had also argued in favor of remaining in the partnership, but voted to withdraw back in October.
Last week, it was Daleiden who asked to rescind that motion.
“When this first came to the board I had stated I wasn’t going to vote to withdraw our name from this,” he said. “But I inadvertently agreed with the motion-makers.”
He said he still believed the formula, which is based solely on population, was not equitable. He said Wright County was subsidizing the other two counties by paying a higher cost for the amount of use it was getting.
He quoted a few numbers. Based on 3,200 processing requests to the lab by all the counties, the average cost was $500 per sample. He said using the number of samples submitted by each county and each partner’s funding amount, the cost to Anoka Co. was $410 per sample. Sherburne County’s cost was $617.89 per sample and Wright County was paying $911.48 per sample.
“I don’t think it’s a real true partnership, because partners don’t treat each other this way,” he said.
He asked to rescind the letter the board sent and replace it with a different letter.
Commissioner Borrell suggested adding in the letter that the board still believed the funding formula isn’t fair and should be looked at in the future. He also asked for a committee to be formed to look at the formula.
Commissioner Sawatzke wanted even more, stating the board would not consider renewing its partnership in 2018 if the formula wasn’t changed.
Daleiden said he didn’t want to tie a future board’s hands.
“The problem I have is, this board will look different possibly in 2018 and I don’t want to make another board subject to what this board feels,” he said.
Commissioner Potter said he didn’t believe the board could legally bind a future board.
“We can’t,” said Sawatzke. “But we can send a message.”
“I think the message has been received,” said Daleiden.
His motion included rescinding the old letter and sending a new letter stating the board felt the current formula isn’t fair, and requesting the formation of a committee of commissioners from all three counties to ty to come up with a more equitable formula.
The board voted in favor of the motion, 4-1, with Sawatzke voting against.
Last year, Wright County’s share in the agreement was $367,944. Sherburne County contributed $268,000 and Anoka County paid $1,000,086.
Had Wright County withdrawn from the joint power agreement, Anoka and Sherburne counties would have been required to fund the lab until another partner signed on.
